Syrian Jihadist Group Claims Lebanon Bombing

A Lebanese branch of the Al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s car bomb explosion in the town of Hermel.

Contact Editor

Elad Benari, 17/01/14 04:42

Syrian supporters of Al-Nusra march in Aleppo

AFP photo

A Lebanese branch of an Al-Qaeda affiliated Syrian rebel group has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s car bomb explosion in the town of Hermel, reports the Daily Star.

The explosion killed four people and wounded 43. Hermel has a primarily Shiite Muslim population, and is in the Bekaa region, where the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah terrorist group is highly influential.

The Daily Star reported that Nusra Front in Lebanon, an offshoot of the Al-Nusra Front group in Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for the involvement in Syria of Hezbollah.

“[We] shook a stronghold of Iran’s party in Hermel with a suicide bombing spearheaded by one of Nusra Front in Lebanon’s men in response to what the group is committing as crimes against Sunni women and children in Syria,” the group said on its Twitter feed, according to the report.

Thursday’s blast in Lebanon was the latest in the ongoing sectarian clashes in the country. Hezbollah strongholds have previously been targeted by Syrian rebels over the group’s support for the Assad regime.